My Taoist nun girlfriend is from the Republic of China era, 1942.

Chapter 36 The Troublemaker
Upon arriving at the hotel, take the elevator directly to the third floor.

The waiter opened the heavy, carved wooden door of the private room, and a burst of noisy voices and the crisp clinking of mahjong tiles rushed out.

The private room was extremely large, with a large round table that could seat twenty people, and a corner next to it set up entertainment facilities such as mahjong and billiards.

"Hey, Brother Yuan! You've finally arrived!"

A burly young man in a black T-shirt saw Lu Yuan, immediately threw down his mahjong tiles, stood up, and spoke in a loud voice.

Yu Hongkai, as the initiator of this gathering, was extremely enthusiastic.

He strode forward and gave Lu Yuan a bear hug, laughing loudly, "Long time no see, Brother Yuan! Look at you, you're still the same as in high school!"

Lu Yuan smiled calmly and gave Yu Hongkai's muscular biceps a firm squeeze: "Hey, I remember you were as fat as a ball in high school, looks like you've been working out a lot!"

"Of course! I even own a gym in Jiangcheng. Yuan-ge, why don't you come and give it a try sometime?"

"We'll see. I'm about to start my senior year and do an internship. I don't know if I'll have time."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Lu Yuan greeted everyone else in the room, and then all eyes turned to Chen Xiaomiao.

Yu Hongkai exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Yuan, you're amazing! I didn't believe Song Jia when she said you found a goddess-like girl. Introduce her to everyone!"

Chen Xiaomiao's face flushed red instantly, and she subconsciously shrank back half a step behind Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan casually put his arm around her shoulder and said naturally, "My girlfriend, Chen Xiaomiao, grew up in the countryside of Yuzhou. She's timid, so I brought her here today to broaden her horizons. Don't scare her."

Although these words sounded like they were belittling Chen Xiaomiao, they were also clearly telling everyone that I had made myself clear, and that when we sat down to eat, people shouldn't bother asking my girlfriend unnecessarily.

"Come on, everyone's here, let's eat!"

Yu Hongkai waved his hand, and more than a dozen people walked toward the dining table. Suddenly, a dissenting voice rang out.

"What's the rush? It's still early! Let's play a couple more rounds. My luck is just starting to improve."

Lu Yuan turned around and saw another person sitting at the mahjong table, wearing a luxury brand T-shirt and a Rolex.

"Du Changlei, long time no see!"

Lu Yuan took the initiative to greet him warmly.

In Lu Yuan's memory, Du Changlei was among the top students in the class, and his grades were only slightly worse than Song Jia's.

However, Du Changlei comes from an ordinary family, so why is he dressed in luxury goods?

Looking at the stack of chips in front of him, it was noticeably shorter than the others. His fingers were unconsciously twirling the few remaining green plastic chips. His eyes were unfocused, his lips were pale, and his complexion was not good.

Lu Yuan roughly understood the situation...

While we were waiting, there must have been quite a fight at the table, and Du Changlei was probably the biggest loser.

"Oh……"

Du Changlei responded coldly, a sinister glint flashing across his eyes.

"What are you playing for?"

Yu Hongkai waved his hand impatiently: "Everyone's here. Are you just going to leave them to stand around and watch?"

He didn't give Du Changlei a chance to speak again and directly told the waiter to clear the card table.

Du Changlei's lips twitched. He threw down the chips in his hand, and when his eyes swept over Lu Yuan's face, his sinister look deepened.

"Come on, Brother Yuan, sit here!"

Yu Hongkai enthusiastically pointed to the empty seat to his right and called out to the person next to him, "Song Jia, why don't you sit with Brother Yuan's girlfriend?"

Song Jia smiled and responded, taking Chen Xiaomiao's slightly cool hand and sitting down between herself and Lu Yuan: "Xiaomiao, do you still remember me?"

"I remember, I remember, you treated me to noodles last time!"

As one of only two acquaintances present, Song Jia's warm and friendly attitude eased Chen Xiaomiao's tense nerves slightly.

However, she still tried her best to straighten her back and placed her hands neatly on her knees, not daring to touch the exquisite and gorgeous tableware on the table.

As the dishes were served one after another, and after a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere gradually warmed up.

The group joked and reminisced about fun times in high school, with the main focus being on Song Jia, Yu Hongkai, and Lu Yuan.

As one of the few people present who did not drink alcohol, Song Jia controlled the atmosphere of the event from beginning to end.

She suddenly tapped the rim of her wine glass with her chopsticks, making a crisp clinking sound.

"Do you still think Yu Hongkai is as well-behaved as he was in high school? That bastard is cunning and sly!"

Song Jia deliberately drew out her words: "He was incredibly quick and ruthless. Two years ago, he came to the capital to ask me for a favor, and without a word, he eloped with my college roommate, keeping it a secret from me for over a year!"

Sitting to Yu Hongkai's left was Shen Yi, Song Jia's best friend and now Yu Hongkai's girlfriend. A burst of laughter erupted instantly.

Yu Hongkai, however, was shameless and put his arm around Shen Yi's shoulder.

"Look at what you're saying! We shouldn't let the good stuff go to outsiders!"

He picked up his wine glass and looked around: "Perfect timing! I'd like to take this opportunity to announce something to everyone! Shen Yi and I plan to get engaged during the National Day holiday and get married at the end of the year."

Everyone must come to the wedding banquet; not a single one can be missing!

Amidst the chorus of blessings, Du Changlei's voice stood out, ringing out with particular enthusiasm: "Congratulations, Hong Kai! I wish you both a long and happy marriage!"

He stood up, holding his wine glass, leaning slightly forward, his face plastered with an almost fawning smile.

"Thank you!"

Yu Hongkai, to his credit, stood up and raised his glass in response.

But as soon as he sat down, Yu Hongkai didn't even look at him, and immediately turned to Lu Yuan: "Brother Yuan, about what you said about your childhood friend last time, I've already told my dad. When can he come over to start work?"

Lu Yuan calmly replied, "I'll send you his information tomorrow, so you can do a background check first."

"There's no need. Your brother is my brother. How could I not trust him?"

"Then I can only thank him on his behalf."

Lu Yuan still didn't understand why Yu Hongkai was being so polite to him, and his doubts grew even stronger.

Amid the noise, someone suddenly spoke up: "Lu Yuan, you haven't changed much in appearance compared to high school, but... tsk, you seem to have a different spirit and energy, you don't have the same sharpness as you did in high school..."

Upon hearing this, Du Changlei felt as if he had finally gotten his chance.

In a moment of impulsiveness, fueled by too much alcohol, he blurted out, "Hey, what's so strange about that? If you lost your parents before you were even twenty, your sharp edges would have been worn down by now!"

The air suddenly solidified.

Everyone froze, their eyes all turning to Du Changlei as if he were an idiot.

At the dinner table, if you can't speak, you don't have to; no one will think you're mute.

Yu Hongkai slammed his hand on the table, making the cups, plates, and bowls bounce: "Du Changlei! You've been drinking too much horse piss, haven't you?!"

Du Changlei trembled at Yu Hongkai's shout, instantly sobering up considerably, his face turning deathly pale.

"Du, there's no need for that..."

Song Jia quickly stood up to smooth things over, first gesturing for Yu Hongkai to sit down, then glaring fiercely at Du Changlei: "Changlei, you've had too much to drink, so don't talk nonsense. Apologize to Lu Yuan first!"

Du Changlei's face turned from red to white, his knuckles holding the wine glass turned blue, and he remained motionless.

Lu Yuan grinned and slowly picked up the glass of white wine in front of him: "Chang Lei is not wrong. It is not easy for us children who have no parents."

So... everyone here is blessed to have parents who are still alive!

His gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on Du Changlei's deathly pale face.

"When you make money, remember to buy your parents some nice clothes. Don't dress up nicely while your parents have worn the same clothes for over ten years."

Don't try to impress others by spending beyond your means, only to lose six months' worth of your parents' hard-earned money in just a few hours.

Du Changlei's face instantly drained of color, as if he had been drained of blood, and the counterfeit Rolex on his wrist stung his eyes under the light.

Although Lu Yuan did not name names, every word he said was like a slap in the face.

"Come!"

Lu Yuan raised his glass and stood up, his smile as warm as a spring breeze: "Wishing our parents good health and a long life!"

"Yeah!"

Yu Hongkai was the first to stand up and agree, and everyone else followed suit, with the clinking of glasses echoing throughout the room.

Du Changlei stood frozen in place until someone nudged him with their elbow, snapping him out of his daze and forcing himself to pick up his wine glass.

His hands trembled uncontrollably, causing the wine in his glass to shake violently, spilling a few drops onto his brand-new trendy T-shirt.

"I...I have something to do, I...I'll be going now!"

Du Changlei put down his wine glass, his voice hoarse and weak, as if he were fleeing in panic.

The heavy door to the private room slammed shut behind him, shutting out the renewed liveliness inside.

(End of this chapter)